NEW YORK, NY.- Christie’s announces the sale of American Art on November 19th, which offers a strong selection of fresh-to-the- market 19th and 20th century paintings, works on paper and sculptures. The auction features the most important artists of their day, representing the genres of Modernism, American Impressionism, Illustration and Western Art. Among the sale’s highlights are Maxfield Parrish’s Land of Make-Believe, Oscar Bluemner’s Jersey Silkmills and Georgia O’Keeffe’s Calla Lilies. Comprised of 157 lots, the sale is expected to realize in excess of $46 million.

Norman Rockwell (1894-1978) Stolen Goods (Boy Stealing Girl's Kilt) oil on canvas Painted in 1918. Estimate: $800,000 – 1,200,000
Painted in 1918, Stolen Goods is exemplary of the signature wit and charm found in Rockwell’s best work. Stolen Goods was featured on the cover of the February 9th, 1918, issue of Judge Magazine, a satirical publication launched by artists in 1881.

ADDITIONAL ILLUSTRATION HIGHLIGHTS
• Newell Convers Wyeth (1882-1945) The Homecoming oil on board, Painted in 1945. Estimate: $600,000-800,000

• Willie Gillis: Hometown News illustration ©SEPS. Used with permission from Curtis Licensing Norman Rockwell (1894-1978) Willie Gillis: Hometown News oil on canvas, Painted in 1942. Estimate: $2,000,000 – $3,000,000

MODERNISM
In addition to strong examples of American Illustration, the sale also features a selective grouping of American Modernist works including Oscar Bluemner’s Jersey Silkmills. Marking a crucial transitional point in the artist’s career, Jersey Silkmills represents the culmination of Bluemner’s earliest series of paintings, embodying the compositional and color principles he developed and perfected during his first years as an artist. Starting his career as an architect, Bluemner brings a meticulous attention to detail to his work.

Georgia O’Keeffe (1887-1986) Calla Lilies oil on canvas Painted in 1924 Estimate: $2,500,000-3,500,000
Georgia O’Keefe’s Calla Lilies is one of eight sophisticated, architectural blooms in O’Keefe’s Calla Lily series. Calla Lilies reflects the pictorial strategies that O’Keeffe developed as an avant-garde American Modernist and her interest in a type of heightened realism that pushes an image to the edge of abstraction. As with all of O’Keeffe’s work, Calla Lilies seamlessly combines sensuous beauty with underlying formalist concerns to create a psychologically compelling work that feels as contemporary today as when it was first painted.

Edward Hopper (1882-1967) Railroad Embankment, gouache and watercolor on paper Painted in 1932 Estimate: $1,200,000-1,800,000
Railroad Embankment is a superb example of Hopper’s Cape Cod work and demonstrates the artist’s mastery of the watercolor medium and his celebrated ability to create hauntingly beautiful and poignant scenes from his everyday surroundings. This set Hopper apart from his contemporaries and allowed him to create a new and uniquely American iconography. In Railroad Embankment, Hopper captures the drama he saw in the effects of light on the rolling landscape and modest architecture of Cape Cod, and elevates his subject to a commentary on mid-century American life. Here, Hopper depicts an actual building, yet renders the scene in such an anonymous fashion so as to make it feel foreign, creating the tension and anticipation that are characteristic of his best works.

Georgia O’Keeffe (1887-1986) Hills and Mesa to the West oil on canvas Painted in 1945 Estimate: $2,500,000-3,500,000
Belonging to a seminal group of works depicting the red hills near O’Keeffe’s home at Ghost Ranch in Abiquiu, New Mexico, Hills and Mesa to the West is a superb example of the artist’s skillful use of color and light. Painted in 1945, this painting is both an objective interpretation of a desert landscape and a meditation on form and color. Composed of brilliant and varying hues, the work is also a testament to O’Keeffe’s passion for color and her unique ability to capture the dramatic and transitory hues of the Southwest at various times of the day.

ADDITIONAL MODERNISM HIGHLIGHTS
• Georgia O'Keeffe (1887-1986) Abstraction white-lacquered bronze Modeled in 1946; cast circa 1979-80. Estimate: $600,000 – 800,000

• Oscar Bluemner (1867-1938) NRA watercolor, gouache and ink on paper Estimate: $700,000 – 1,000,000

• Milton Avery (1885-1965) The Orange Shirt oil on canvas Estimate: $1,000,000 – 1,500,000

AMERICAN IMPRESSIONISM
• Louis Ritman (1889-1963) An Improvised Flower Basket oil on canvas Estimate: $250,000 – 350,000

• Childe Hassam (1859-1935) The Old Paris Cab Stand oil on board Estimate: $800,000 - 1,200,000

• Frederick Carl Frieseke (1874-1939) La Poudreuse (Woman Selecting a Necklace) oil on canvas Painted by 1913 Estimate: $500,000 – 700,000

REGIONALISM
• Grant Wood (1891-1942) Study for Dinner for Threshers charcoal, pencil and chalk on brown paper laid down on paper Executed in 1934 Estimate: $1,500,000 – $2,500,000

• Thomas Hart Benton (1889-1975) The Plains tempera on board Estimate: $700,000 - 1,000,000

WESTERN
• Gerard Curtis Delano (1890-1972) Friend or Foe? oil on board Estimate: $200,000 – $300,000

• Walter Ufer (1876-1936) Trailing Homeward oil on canvas Painted by 1924 Estimate: $400,000 – $600,000